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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

My friend just scolded me on Facebook because I haven't written a blog in forever. There is lots to catch you up on, not to mention tons more honeymoon vids and pics, but all of my pics of everything are still on my camera, so today you get this:

Jamie Eason, one of bodybuilding.com's main fitness models, has put her practices into a plan that is so easy to follow it's ridiculous! I met her at the UFC Fan Expo in Vegas last year, and let me tell you, she looks amazing!!! Go here to check out the program! There are sample meal plans, recipes, and day-by-day, week-by-week workouts for 12 weeks.

Being married to a personal trainer, you would think it would be easy to stay in shape. Not so, my friends. Not so. I have been begging JB for 3 years to write a program for me. I know how to do most of the exercises, with proper form, but when I walk into the gym I need a game plan or I just do cardio or one of the classes. Since I don't pay him with actual money, he does not work for me, so I am pretty much on my own. That's why I was so excited about this program. I'm not trying to get super buff, figure competition style, but I would definitely like to be more toned and maybe see an ab muscle or two. I'd say three months of my life is worth that.

I also set up an account at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/. I was skeptical at first because food logging is always a pain no matter how good they say their database is. The thing I love about this one is the droid app (and I'm sure the iPhone app too) has a barcode scanner! I have scanned multiple things with it to log and it's been accurate every time!! Makes it so much easier to log food. You can also log water intake and exercise and depending on your goal, current height and weight, tells you how many calories you should be taking in on a daily basis to get there.

A friend (and former dance teacher) of mine decided it would be great to start a group on FB to cheer each other on and hold each other accountable and share tips and meals and whatnot. We are only on Day 3 but we have already helped each other out with food, supplements, and clarification of some of the stuff in the plan.

Neat huh?

So why wait for New Year's to start your journey, whether it be weight loss, toning, or buidling muscle, when you can start now? If you have followed my blog for a while, you know how much of a cheerleader I am when I really think it's a great thing. And I REALLY think both of these things are great!

Disclaimer: I am not being paid by either of the companies mentioned above for raving about them like a lunatic :)

Monday, August 15, 2011

Okay, so if you haven't already realized the odds of this actually happening are very slim, I guess I can explain a little more, but it only gets weirder.

So, somehow we missed the boat on Arrested Development and are now catching up on all 53 episodes on Netflix.

We usually watch about 5 episodes each night since they are so short and we have a limited amount of time in the evenings. As usual, we sat down after dinner last night to watch a few episodes before bed and then I had crazy dreams! Bear with me as I explain because my dreams are very vivid, but sometimes when I try to explain them they turn into run-on sentences.

So, I was still living at my parents' old house, the one I grew up in, and I knew that someone was stalking me because they would call and text me with pictures of things I was doing at that very moment. Jason Bateman, I think was the guy I hired to help me find out who it was that was stalking me. At some point there grew a romantic connection and then because of a phone call or picture I recieved I pieced together that it was him who was recording and stalking me. I didn't really know how to feel about this, since obviously I was interested in him in the dream, but I was highly disturbed by it and even moreso when I realized there were cameras placed all over my house and car. I would find them and unplug their power source and turn the camera around so it was facing the wall, but they had a backup source of power and were being operated by remote controls and I couldn't get them to shut off or anything and I was so creeped out.

Jason Bateman and I got in this huge fight when I called him out for being my stalker and then he stormed out and flew off to Europe or something. After he left I realized how strong my feelings had grown for him and I took off to the airport to find him in Europe and tell him....

Moral of the story is, no more Arrested Development before bed. Happy Monday!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

I like to do this thing where I keep it a secret when I am planning a big change with my hair and surprise everyone, including JB. I'm not sure why I do this, but I do. Now you are part of that. SURPRISE!!

Did you notice:

My camera skills are way slightly better than JB's

I should have used air quotes when I said "team of stylists" because let's be honest, I don't really have a team of stylists. I have my bestie and her boss.

My husband is hilarious (leave him comments about his haircut, he will love it, I'm sure)

Friday, August 12, 2011

Not for us, sillies! We aren't going anywhere anytime soon. It's moving day for these little hotties:

She was one of my bridesmaids and he is her lucky boyfriend. They bought a house only 2 miles from us and JB and I couldn't be more excited to welcome them to the neighborhood. We really enjoy hanging out with them, but until now they have lived 20+ miles from us, so I only saw her every other Wednesday when I worked at our downtown office. Now they are just a long walk or a short bike/drive.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

In case you were worried, this is not a post about the gays (my best friend is a lesbian, I can say that), but a very interesting article that my friend (not the lesbian, a different friend) sent to me the other day. It's a lot of words, but great advice, so hang in there.

FINDING AND KEEPING A LIFE PARTNER

Golden Rules For Finding Your Life Partner

by Dov Heller, M.A

When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50%, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Miss. Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: 'We're in love.' I believe this is the #1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love. Though this may sound 'not politically correct', there's a profound truth here.

Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come. Let me say it again: 'You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone'. You need a lot more!!!

Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

QUESTION 1:

Do we share a common life purpose? Why is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a longtime to live with someone. What do you plan to do with each other all that time? Travel, eat and jog together? You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose.

Two things can happen in a marriage: (1) You can grow together, or (2) You can grow apart. Fifty percent (50%) of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life! The BOTTOM LINE -- MARRY SOMEONE WHO WANTS THE SAME THING!!!!!

QUESTION 2:

Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person? This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship. Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust ( i.e., trust that I won't get 'punished' or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings.)

A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the person you plan to marry.

QUESTION 3:

Is he/she a mensch? A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test? Here are some suggestions: Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis? Are they serious about improving themselves?

A teacher of mine defines a good person as 'someone who is always striving to be good and do the right thing'. So ask about your Significant Other...What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic person is not some one whose top priority is character refinement.

There are essentially two types of people in the world: (1) People who are dedicated to personal growth and (2) People who are dedicated to seeking comfort.

Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION 4:

How does he/she treat other people? The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure.

Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed? To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as waiters, bus boys, taxi drivers, etc. How do they treat their parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation? If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them everything; can you do nearly as much for them? You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION 5 :

Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married? Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to 'improve' them after they're married. As a colleague of mine puts it: 'You can probably expect someone to change after marriage for the worse' If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating; to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues.

Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework.

Another Perspective....

There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going anywhere relationships. Observe the relationships around you..

Pay attention. Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill? When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know, or appreciate you?

The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.

An African proverb states, 'Before you get married, keep both eyes open, and after you marry, close one eye'.

Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, pity, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really that important.

Do you bring out the best in each other? Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare and control? What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain? You can't take someone to the altar to alter them.

You can't make someone love you or make someone stay. If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and 'a life,' you won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or be responsible for your pain. Seeking status, sex, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Polterabend. I don't really know what it stands for, but it's basically a big party in honor of the bride and groom. Not us, the ones we went to visit in Germany, Uwe (pronounced Uva) and Claudia. Apparently there are no formal invites that go out for this party, it's just a word of mouth kind of thing. Even people that aren't invited to the wedding are welcome to come and wish the bride and groom well. There was too much footage to make a long video, so I just did a clip montage (okay, flipshare did a clip montage, whatever).

Let me give you a quick rundown before you watch the video...

When we arrived, guests were walking up to a stone propped against a tree outside of the pub with baskets of dishes throwing and breaking them. Apparently breaking the dishes means well wishes for the bride and groom. The more dishes, the more luck you are wishing them. This was going on while people were arriving and cocktails were being had, so I would assume it was cocktail hour. The groom said a little something and then we all went inside to grab a seat and get in line for food.

Dinner was goulash (think beef stew in a thinner broth) and bread. It was so amazing we all went back for seconds. After dinner the bride and groom gave a speech in German so I can't really tell you what they said, but Uwe did mention that JB and I were there and we had just been married two weeks before and he called us up to the front of the room to basically stand there with another couple who I am guessing had also recently wed. After that they shared a dance together and then others joined in for the next song. German, okay European music in general, is pretty interesting to say the least. Luckily the DJ had some US top hits to get down to as well (see video #2 below).

There are a few traditions that take place at the Polterabend. The breaking of the dishes is one, and a part of another. Apparently the best man takes all the dishes that were broken (someone also showed up with a porcelain toilet and shattered it as well) and spreads them all out in a big mess outside and only the bride and groom are allowed to clean it up. They have to clean until the best man says it's good. During this time, they burn the groom's pants to symbolize that he is no longer wearing the pants in the relationship and they nail the bride's shoes to a tree so she can't run away. Very entertaining.

The party was on the 9th and Uwe's birthday is on the 10th, so at midnight, they lit off fireworks. Legit, illegal in the US without a permit, fireworks. Right.In.The.Street. I was a little stressed out about this to say the least, but it was pretty cool. After the fireworks, the best man gave his approval of the clean up and we headed back inside for dessert. Little did Uwe know that they had gotten him a birthday cake and the bride wheeled it out lit with sparkling candles. Apparently birthdays are a pretty big deal in Germany and everyone at the party (which was a LOT of people) lined up to hug Uwe and wish him a happy birthday while the DJ played every birthday song in his arsenal over and over until we were all finished.

At midnight more food was brought out and we were all eating and drinking and dancing and having a merry time. JB, our friend and I were sitting at a table talking and one of the servers came up with a tray of beer asking if we wanted any. When we said "No, thank you." and he turned to go, he lost control of the tray and all of the beer came down on the right side of me. It was awesome. The best part was that Uwe's Uncle Heinz told me I won the wet t-shirt contest. Duh. WINNING!!!

We went home around 1:30 or so, but I think the party was going pretty late. Now that you have the rundown, check out the video below.

And because I know you want to see my sweet moves on the dance floor (and hear my awesome singing), here is the rest of the party rock vid:

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Happy birthday to my beautiful mommy! She was the mom all my friends were jealous of me for in high school :) Throughout the years she has guided me and shown me how to be the woman I am today (and I think I'm pretty awesome, clearly). She is always there for me to help me through life's problems and is truly my bestest friend.

Today we are going up to her house to swim and BBQ and just hang out with the fam. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Mama! You deserve it!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Today I'm linking up with Mrs. Monologues and Fabulous But Evil for their True Life series. Each week for the next eight weeks they are hosting a link up for people to showcase their different blogs. This is my first link up ever!!!

What kind of bogger am I, you ask? I'm a general life blogger.

I started blogging a couple of years ago as a way to keep an online journal of everything that was happening in my life and to be able to share it all with my friends and family. Basically, if you know me in real life, I tell pretty funny stories. I try to translate my humor and snark to this here blog, but I'm not sure it always works out in my favor. The problem is, I'm lazy. I have all these great ideas for blogs (mostly while driving) and then I never have the motivation to actually write them.

You know the dryer/sock monster? That whole middle space where a billion socks without matches are floating around? I think there is one with all my lost blogs in it.

So yeah, anyway. I think my problem is that I am too wordy. And I am totally Type A so if I sit down to start a blog, I can't just save it as a draft and come back to it later, so if I can't finish it in one sitting, it doesn't happen at all. Sad face. The other problem? I am at a computer all day for work, then I have a 45 minute commute home, then I usually go to the gym. By the time I get home, it's 8pm and I still have to shower and eat dinner and spend quality time with the hubs before bed time at 10pm. This is why I can't read books at lightening speed like the rest of you or write blog posts consistently.

I just realized this post is supposed to be attracting new followers and you are probably all like, "WTF? Why is this girl basically talking me out of reading her blog?" Cuz I'm a winner, that's why.

So anyway, I started this online journal about my life and then I started reading and following other people's blogs and commenting on them and then people outside of those I knew started reading and following and I thought, "They like me! They REALLY like me!", but then it became more pressure to post more often or be funnier or have more pictures and it's all kind of too much for me. I have to remind myself on a daily basis that if people want to read it, so be it, but I am really doing this for me and the fam. I have never done a giveaway, I don't have any buttons, I have never hosted a link up, this is my very first link up participation attempt, etc.

So, if you are a loyal reader, whether I know you or not, thank you! I do take comments and advice to heart and your input does mean a lot. I hope you stick around as I make my way out of this blogging rut. Trying to figure out this whole wifey thing :)

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About Me

I'm just a girl...
who has finally finished her masters, paid off her debt, and become a homeowner. I'm not yet a mother (let's not get ahead of ourselves), but am a darn good wife, friend, sister and daughter, if I do say so myself. Oh, and I'm kind of a big deal :)